Many motivated sales professionals are realising that their sales skills can be applied to build a successful career in recruitment. Moving from sales to the role of a trainee recruitment consultant is appealing because of the potential for highly attractive benefits packages, fast track career progression, generous holiday allowances, and of course the opportunity to increase wage brackets.
The skills that are transferable from sales to recruitment can result in big earnings. In fact, the earning potential in recruitment is uncapped due to the fast-flowing abundance of clients and candidates. Furthermore, the earning potential can be huge from the beginning. Constantly in high demand, recruitment consultants are needed because there are always skilled job seekers who need expert career advice.
Sales skills that translate to recruitment consultant jobs.
On the surface, confidence and the motivation to drive results generally characterise successful sales people. These two traits translate to the role of a recruitment consultant, but there are more characteristics and skills from sales that are ideally suited for recruitment consultant jobs.
The ability to communicate in an articulate manner and engage with colleagues and clients are just as important. Recruitment consultant jobs are also somewhat autonomous positions, which require consultants to be able to manage their own workload. In other words, recruiters are responsible for their own success, just as in sales.
Lastly, a great amount of resilience is needed for any role in sales or recruitment, as most consultants generally have to deal with a lot of knock-backs before they can hit targets.
What does a recruitment consultant do?
Companies are always looking to recruit skilled employees that are a good fit for the particular company. Recruitment consultants work hard to profile and match candidates (job seekers) to client companies who are seeking to fill temporary or permanent positions. Recruitment consultant work closely with their client companies and develop a thorough understanding of the needs and requirements of the positions which need to be filled.
Recruitment consultants are therefore responsible for attracting candidates with the skills to fill these positions. Some of the activities involved in the role include using social media to advertise positions, headhunting, preparing CVs and correspondence with suitable applicants to forward to clients, organising candidate interviews, relaying interview results and negotiating pay and salary rates.
How recruitment consultants attract candidates.
People in recruitment consultant jobs put together engaging copy for new vacancies for job boards and social media and also research new roles thoroughly to ensure they can answer any questions thrown their way.
Other methods include referrals, headhunting, and networking. Afterwards, recruiters screen candidates and then conduct interviews. They do background checks and then match candidates with the appropriate client company positions. Recruitment consultants are also available to provide advice to candidates, as well as client companies pertaining to training requirements, salary levels, and career opportunities.
The truth is that sales and recruitment are very similar areas. Whether it is selling a product or a service, the skills required to do either are similar.
Building strong working relationships is required in sales and in recruitment alike. Salespeople and recruitment consultants are responsible for attracting and bringing in new business to the clients. This is what drives the success of the companies forward. The high energy levels and enthusiasm that exist in sales is ideally suited in recruiting.
The good listening and negotiation skills, as well as the ability to build relationships and trust, will give anyone moving from sales to recruitment an advantage. Get into recruitment now and get on the fast track to a career that will offer great promotion opportunities and financial rewards.
